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Literature in the Rye
By Jeremy Shields J.D. Salinger decided to channel his thoughts and feelings through Holden, whose writing abilities are less than stellar. He may see himself catching children in the rye – after all, they're probably pretty hard to miss – but just catching a glimpse of the literary elements Salinger employed can be difficult when we have to sift through Holden's realistic but low-level writing. For a conscientious Catcher in the Rye reader such as yourself, we've provided a list here for the next time you pick up the novel. This is only a partial list, of course; see if you can recognize the others on your own. How many do you remember? * Setting is the location in which a story takes place. Since this one's a little obvious, let's move on and get to the fun stuff. * Foreshadowing is a literary device wherein the author hints at an event that will occur later in his or her story long before it is actually revealed to or understood by the reader. This is one of the first literary elements that Salinger employs in The Catcher in the Rye. "I'll just tell you about this madman stuff that happened to me around last Christmas," Holden confesses on the first page, "just before I got pretty run-down and I had to come out here and take it easy." This one sentence foreshadows all of Holden's tale, from his adventure in New York to his stay at the mental institution in which he writes. * Symbolism can be found almost anywhere in The Catcher in the Rye, channeled by Salinger through the deceptively simple speech of his main character. This element takes an object that, on the surface, may not appear particularly important, but its true significance is more substantial than a reader may first believe. Salinger uses symbolism in The Catcher in the Rye a number of times. To illustrate one notable example, Holden's red hunting hat may seem to be just that: a red hunting hat, nothing more. However, throughout the novel the hat becomes an integral part of his character, putting it on and taking it off countless times depending on how he sees himself at that moment. Phoebe on the carousel, the museum mummies, the ducks on the water, are all symbols that hide a deeper meaning. What is this meaning, you ask? Flip the pages and find out! * Imagery can be defined, in the literary sense, as the kind of writing that paints a distinct visual in the reader's mind, one that is vivid and often shows us exactly what the author wants us to see. This involves a great deal of description, as was provided in these passages from page 94: :::She came in and took her coat off right away and sort of chucked it on the bed. She had on a green dress underneath. Then she sort of sat down sideways on the chair that went with the desk in the room and started jiggling her foot up and down. She crossed her legs and started jiggling this one foot up and down. She was very nervous, for a prostitute. She really was. I think it was because she was young as hell. ::While not as eloquently worded as other authors might have put it, this is about as eloquent as Holden gets – which may be what makes his imagery so unique. * Metaphor is Holden Caulfield's favorite literary element. You'll see him use it on a number of occasions, often followed by a disclaimer along the lines of, "Not that that's a bad thing..." One example of this is on the first page of the book: "In the first place, that stuff bores me, and in the second place, my parents would have about two hemorrhages apiece if I told anything pretty personal about them." (He follows this up a few sentences later with "They're nice and all—I'm not saying that..." How considerate.) * Irony is sometimes subtle in The Catcher in the Rye, but once you notice it, you'll see it's everywhere. The irony of Holden's hate for the phonies of the world despite his own recurrent phoniness is a central theme that appears numerous times in the book (oh, spoiler). It is through irony that Salinger depicts the complexities of Holden in a most unusual light, making it a key literary element of The Catcher in the Rye. * Point of view is the perspective from which the story is told, whether it be the stance of the narrator or the emotional bias that comes with it. Salinger's novel is told from the point of view (or as it is often termed, POV) of Holden, whose first-person storytelling provides us with a keen sense of his personal thoughts and feelings. * The conflict of a work a fiction is a struggle that usually drives the plot forward. Commonly the central focus of the story, a conflict must be intriguing and well-developed: if the former is not present, then few will care to read it, and without the latter, any conflict resolution may not satisfy the reader's expectations. Of course, one's view of "intrigue" and "development" is entirely subjective, and what is satisfactory to some can be a total letdown for others. That's why the conflict is such a tricky subject – some authors just don't know what to do about it. ::Salinger, however, seems to have a clear idea of what his conflict is, seen in The Catcher in the Rye as Holden's internal struggle with the pains of growing up. It could be said that Holden never resolved his conflict – his reflection ended with him standing by a carousel, watching as his younger sister enjoyed her childhood while his was fast slipping away. * The theme of a story is the motif of the plot, the overarching topic that can be seen throughout the piece often as the meaning or message of the tale. Phoniness itself is a theme of The Catcher in the Rye – no, we won't tell you how.